Social development initiative toward enhancement of bumiputera value in Iskandar Malaysia

Malaysia has been defined as a plural society, characterised by distinct racial communities, each having its own space and activities. Most literature implies that there is a still gap between races in terms of economic equity and property ownership. Despite the initiative by the government namely the New Economic Policy (NEP) introduced in 1971, to eradicate poverty and to achieve 30 percent of Bumiputera equity in all economic sectors, the performance of the Bumiputeras are not as encouraging. A more recent initiative is the launching of the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) to support the Vision 2020 aspiration to become a high income economic nation by 2020. Iskandar Malaysia (IM), a new development corridor in the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia has been identified as one of the catalysts for GDP growth through high-impact developments. The Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP), a blueprint of the area has outlined various development strategies in line with the vision of IM as a sustainable conurbation of international standing. Since then, the city-region has experienced a high rate development through several public†“private urban renewal and new urban/suburban projects. This paper examines the strategic policies on social development generally, in particular, the development strategy that will result in the increase in the value of Bumiputera land as well as other benefits